1. For Netbig Chinese Universities Rankings of the year 2003, we no longer
rank those three-year colleges. Our experiences of past four years suggest
that data of these three-year colleges are often difficult to obtain. The
rankings consequently could not compare these universities effectively.
We choose therefore not to rank these colleges.

2. We have, instead of the aggregate number, used the quantity per thousand
students in calculating the indicator of “academic resources”. As a result,
universities such as Jilin University that have recently merged with institutions
of diverse qualities have been penalized with lower rankings. On the other
hand, the ranking of universities such as Zhongshan University that have
merged with equitable institutions does not change much.

3. Netbig Chinese University Rankings have adjusted in 2002 its ranking
methodology to assess those institutions with liberal art orientation more
fairly. For example, People’s University of China is ranked as No. 9 in
comprehensive ranking both in this year and year 2002.

4. The top ten universities in this year’s rankings are respectively: Tsinghua
University/Beijing University, Nanjing University, Fudan University, University
of Science and Technology of China, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Zhejiang
University, Nankai University, Renmin University of China (a.k.a People’s
University of China), Beijing Normal University and Sun Yat-sen University
(a.k.a. Zhongshan University). These universities cover a wide variety of
institutions that include comprehensive universities, universities with
arts and science orientation, universities with science and technology orientation,
universities with liberal art orientation as well universities specializing
in education. There are many, among these top ten universities, that have
recently went through mergers. They demonstrate different ways in university
growth. Both expansion of pure scale and expansion of fields and subjects
can be effective. There are many among these top universities that did not
partake in the recent wave of university mergers. Excellence of a university
may as well lie in one’s operational efficiency and its unique set of program
offerings.

5. Tsinghua University and Beijing University have again jointly ranked
as No. 1 this year. This demonstrates the unparalleled positions of these
universities in China. Their own strength and history may have partially
contributed to their ranking. Yet, their superior government support funding
may have also played an important role. From a public policy point of view,
we wonder, if there is a level playing field, would the Chinese universities
be more competitive and more efficient?

6. We do not rank China Union Medical University as it is too different
than the other Chinese universities.